What a first-half of football Arne Slot will have had to dissect after watching his Liverpool side go into the break a goal down to Fulham.
The visitors were, to be completely fair, good for the scoreline, even if the Merseysiders did improve towards the half-time whistle.
That said, it would be remiss of commentators to avoid discussing the incredible rub of the green Marco Silva’s men experienced on Saturday afternoon.
Two potential red card calls for Issa Diop and Andreas Pereira were completely discarded (with both awarded yellows), whilst Liverpool’s Andy Robertson instead paid the price for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity.
No surprises, then, that things were just more than a teensy bit heated between both benches!
Darwin Nunez makes up with Marco Silva
Sky Sports described a seemingly minor altercation between Darwin Nunez and Fulham boss Silva in the direct aftermath of Pereira’s caution.
“It’s getting heated between the two benches. Darwin Nunez just involved in a heated exchange with Marco Silva,” Pat Davison reported for Sky Sports.
It was an incident quickly forgotten by our No.9, however, who cooled his war of words with the Portuguese manager ahead of the 40-minute mark.
Davison went on to add ahead of the half-time whistle: “Nunez and Silva just had a big hug as Nunez went out to warm up. Friends again…for now.”
The most controversial moment of Liverpool v Fulham
There can be no complaints over Andy Robertson’s red card after the Scot took out Harry Wilson with the Fulham footballer through on goal.
We can, however, point the finger at Tony Harrington and VAR’s unscrupulous officiating when it came to the visitors’ first-half challenges.
Issa Diop and Andreas Pereira should most certainly consider themselves beneficiaries in this regard.
One can only wonder at what the complexion of the game would otherwise have looked like going into the half-time break.
